Fiber nanotechnology: a new platform for “green” research and technological innovations

Abstract

The eve of the twenty first century brought the promise of a myriad of technological advancements, not only because of the symbolism of the year 2000, but also because of the possibilities inherent in the ever burgeoning interdisciplinarity of the sciences. Indeed, almost every transition in human history occurring at the beginning of a century or millennium was ripe with the advent of new findings, breakthroughs, and technological advances. The nineteenth century was the dawn of the mechanical age in which machines burdened the labor of humans; the twentieth century was characterized by the juggernaut concepts of relativity and quantum physics that lead to computer manufacture and communication, and finally the 21st century is becoming, as many are realizing, the age of advances in nanotechnology and the biological sciences. Nanotechnology may be loosely defined as a multidisciplinary field overseeing the manipulation of structures at the atomic, molecular and nanometric levels to perform discrete functions such as memory storage, data (electrons) flow, stimuli-triggered (pH, temperature) events, etc. In fact, the marriage of nanotechnology to the arena of biology has become an inevitable reality based on our needs to improve the quality and longevity of life. As an illustration we can cite the development of smart drug delivery vehicles and biomimetic applications based on the principles of self-assembly, convergent synthesis, and the precise control of functionality of cellular sub-structures. Many new advances in DNA molecular science, AFM biologically modified probes, and biosensing enabled scientists to make great contributions to genomics, proteonomics, gene therapy, PCR, and recombinant DNA technologies. One sub-discipline that is currently gaining momentum is the field of biobased fiber nanotechnology. The area of fiber science encompasses not only relevant macroscopic structures but their constitutive polymeric assemblies at the nanoscale (5–500 nm). In general, biopolymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, chitosan, hylauronic acid, lactic acid, etc., composed of distinct monomeric units (e.g., glucose residues in cellulose) fall under this umbrella. Interestingly, a focus on the nanotechnological aspects of these materials has not been realized until the last few years in which we have witnessed a virtual explosion of symposia, conferences, and workshops on the subject. In the following text, we wish to point out the salient features of the subjects contained in this special issue, and stress the value of natural biopolymers and biochemicals from forests and crops as precursors for nanotechnological applications. Four general realms in this area are covered here which we L. A. Lucia (&) O. J. Rojas Department of Wood and Paper Science, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 8005, Raleigh, NC 276958005, USA e-mail: lucian.lucia@ncsu.edu